Days Gone Features a Dynamic Environment Says Sony Bend Studio
Just a few days ago the Sony Bend Studio revealed that the highly-anticipated Days Gone has officially gone gold, meaning that fans can breathe a sigh of relief that it will not be delayed again. Now in a recent interview Creative Director John Garvin and Game Director Jeff Ross talked a bit about their upcoming title, unveiling some more exciting details, including the dynamic environment.
In a brand new interview with GameStop, Sony Bend Studio’s Jeff Ross and John Garvin shared a lot about what fans can expect from the upcoming zombie survival game Days Gone. When asked about the six years of development and what the studio wanted to bring the game, John Garvin stated it all began with concept art depicting Deacon stuck on a rooftop with zombies chomping at the bit to get him. “So we really asked ourselves “how do we turn that into a game?” You see movies that kinda do that, but the question is, how do you turn that into a game and make it fun? That was literally what drove the development early on for Days Gone.”
Jess Ross also talked about the long developmental process and how he believes it’s given the team more time to get the game right, “Six years is a lot of time, but we also see it as a plus. It gives us the time to get things right. It’s a great luxury. It is a long time to work on a game, but it’s also a huge open world, dynamic game in next-gen fidelity. All the highways are destroyed and you’re doing a lot of off-roading because they were trying to stop the hoard. These pieces all kind of tied together and basically what it’s taken over the last six years is turning that into a game that had elements that were familiar because we feel really strongly that that’s what genre is.”
Now despite the genre being something that many gamers worldwide are well-versed in, the studio chose a very unusual setting for Days Gone to take place in: the Pacific Northwest. As such, many have wondered how this setting will affect the open-world feeling of the game. Garvin confirmed why this is such a good environment for Days Gone, “We haven’t seen this in a video game, and we thought it would be interesting, fun to explore and it would look beautiful. What better backdrop to fight a horde than this amazing environment that you’re in.”
According to Garvin the environment is going to be very different depending on which region of the map you’re in. Jeff Ross adds that the environment is pretty much another character in the game saying, “Right, it’s a beautiful and sinister environment. And honestly, it’s like a character in the game in its own way. It can be snowing in the morning, it can be hot at lunch, then it can be snowing again or raining at night. It can snow as late as June or July too. It’s really a dynamic environment, so we’re not really stretching much for the game. We’re just delivering on what’s there.”
So in addition to watching out for all the Freakers in the game, you’ll have to watch out for the the ever reactive environment as well. Days Gone is available on April 26th exclusively for the PlayStation 4. So what do you think about the latest details shared? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below and don’t forget to keep it locked for updates!